Comedian Paul Currie now claims he's not playing Glastonbury and has been 'cancelled' after he 'hounded' Jewish audience member out of theatre in row over Palestine - but festival bosses say they had never actually booked him

Comedian Paul Currie has walked back on earlier claims he was set to perform at Glastonbury Festival after bosses said he had not been booked for the 2024 event.

The comic, who faced a row in February amid claims he 'hounded' Jewish man Liahav Eitan out of a London gig because he 'refused to applaud' a Palestinian flag, now claims he has been 'cancelled' after 13 years of Glasto gigs.

In a post on Instagram on Friday evening, Currie - who has been explicit in his support of Palestinian people -  said the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) had put 'pressure' on Glastonbury organisers not to book him again.

But festival bosses told MailOnline earlier today that he had not been booked to perform at all for 2024.

Currie's new post, however, was phrased to suggest that he believed he had been booked but that the offer was subsequently withdrawn. MailOnline has contacted the comedian for further clarification.

The post read: 'Oops, so what I should have said is I thought I *was* playing Glastonbury... but sadly I am not allowed to be there.

'Unfortunately and heartbreakingly the festival have decided to cancel me this year, after 13 wonderful years bringing joy and silliness to the thousands of families and revellers who came to join in my silly shows over the years on the riser stages.

'I will continue to fight to defend my reputation and more importantly, to defend my right to speak out against atrocities in Palestine - as I know so many of you do too.'

His statement went on to suggest that Glastonbury had been 'pressured' to 'cancel' him because of the CAA, which he alleged was a 'Zionist extremist pressure group'.

MailOnline has contacted Glastonbury Festival and the Campaign Against Antisemitism for further comment. 

It comes after the comedian was engulfed in an antisemitism row after a Jewish man claimed he was 'hounded' out of one his shows because he didn't applaud a flag of Palestine. 

Mr Currie, who describes himself as a 'professional d***head' on social media, had earlier claimed he will perform at this year's Glastonbury Festival despite the furore over the February incident.

Posting on his Instagram page on Friday, the comedian shared an image of the Glastonbury logo, accompanied by the words 'I am playing Glastonbury Festival' and a Palestinian Flag.

In the caption he included a variety of hashtags related to the war in Gaza, including 'free Palestine', 'stop the genocide in Gaza', 'end apartheid' and 'end all wars'.

The comedian, who hails from Belfast, performed at Glastonbury in Worthy Farm, Somerset, in 2022 and 2023 putting his self-described 'weird comedy' on display at Britain's biggest festival.

However, despite his claims, Glastonbury organisers told MailOnline today that he has not been booked to perform at this year's festival.

Currie sparked outrage after he allegedly encouraged a crowd of people to chant 'get the f*** out' and 'free Palestine' at Israeli audience member Liahav Eitan in February.

Bosses at the Soho Theatre apologised afterwards, and later said it had banned Currie from performing there again.

However, the comic appeared to double down after posting a picture of the Palestinian flag on social media and claiming he would 'not quietly nor politely sit'.

Mr Currie had produced the Palestinian and Ukrainian flags as part of his one-hour non-verbal show Shtoom at the Soho Theatre in London in February this year.

Mr Eitan, an Israeli who was in the audience, said he was left feeling scared for his safety after the comedian allegedly turned on him for failing to clap the object.

He said that while the show was 'bizarre', everything was fine until Currie unfurled the flags and asked the audience to stand up.

Mr Eitan said: 'If I was closer to the door, maybe I would have left at that stage. But as it was, I just waited five minutes for the for the show to end.

'When it ended, a lot of the people got up and clapped. There was a bit of a standing ovation there and me and my friends just stayed sat down quietly and not clapping.

'I didn't mean to make any point of it right? I just didn't really enjoy that bit.'

Mr Eitan, who moved from Israel to London five years ago, said: 'The only way out was through the stage. We had to actually get on the stage quite close to him - and I was quite afraid that he'd throw a punch because he was still cursing and shouting.'

The software engineer, whose seats were behind Currie, added: 'He got out his Palestine flag again and shouted "motherf***er you'll have to watch it again on your way out".'

Mr Eitan and his friend fled from the Soho Theatre to Bloomsbury in a bid to move away from the venue, where the crowd were spilling out and some of them were giving them 'unfriendly glances'.

He continued: 'From the audience, we were mostly scared. We wanted to get out of the of the situation. It seemed like a bit of a mob mentality that could go sour any second.

'So we were just afraid of violence. That's why we didn't linger right? We just wanted to get out of there.'

Mr Eitan added: '[We were] mostly scared about how that room might turn against us. From the comedian, I didn't feel any sort of way like I thought it really reflected on him rather than on us.'

Currie, who often shares pro-Palestine content on social media, is then said to have shown his appreciation to the crowd for coming before sarcastically thanking Mr Eitan and his friend for not standing up and clapping. 

Mr Eitan said that Currie 'lingered' on them for around five to ten seconds until he responded: 'Thank you for that Palestine flag'.

Currie then seemed 'quite taken aback' and asked Mr Eitan if he was being sarcastic.

'Then he said something like, "Okay, well, you're welcome. You're welcome for the Palestine flag. It was part of the show."

'And then he came back to me again and said, "Did you enjoy the show?" I said, "Yes, up until that point". And he said, "Ah up until that point".

'Then he just turns back to me and starts screaming, 'I'm from Belfast. I know everything about ceasefires. Ceasefire now, get the f*** out of my theatre. Get out, get the f*** out of my show, motherf***ers.'

Mr Eitan said he then asked his friend if they should grab their things and go before they calmly attempted to leave.

'Unfortunately, when the entire crowd was still inside, the only way out was through the stage,' he added.

Coming close with the comedian on stage, Mr Eitan said Currie started a 'public chant of 'ceasefire now, and free Palestine' as he 'tried to incite the crowd'.

He added: 'I didn't look at him on the way out. We just left.' 

The Soho Theatre apologised for the 'upset and hurt' caused by the incident to some of their customers and will be investigating what happened. 

They wrote: 'We are sorry and saddened by an incident that took place at our venue at the end of a performance of Paul Currie: Shtoom on Saturday 10 of February which has caused upset and hurt to members of audience attending and others. 

'We take this very seriously and are looking into the detail of what happened as thoroughly, as sensitively, and as quickly as we can.

'It is important to us that Soho Theatre is welcoming and inclusive place for all.'

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was assisting Jewish guests who were allegedly hounded out of the Soho Theatre in London.

A spokesperson for CAA said: 'What the Jewish audience-members have recounted is atrocious, and we are working with them and our lawyers to ensure that those who instigated and enabled it are held to account.

'These allegations are of deeply disturbing discriminatory abuse against Jews. Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but hounding Jews out of theatres is reminiscent of humanity's darkest days, and must have no place in central London in 2024.'

Currie appeared to double down in the aftermath of the incident, sharing a post on social media claiming he would 'not quietly nor politely sit and make house within the depravity of this killing machine'.

He has denied he is antisemitic, and a fundraiser has been launched to prepare for potential legal action against Soho Theatre and the CAA.

On the fundraising page he said: 'I just want to make it clear that we should be able to speak out for Palestine, and against injustice - me being banned by Soho and targeted by the CAA is just a drop in the ocean of the horror that is unfolding before our eyes. So I thank you sincerely for your help and for spreading the word.'